…when disturbed, this spider can vibrate its web up to 8 Hz, with an amplitude of nearly 1 cm?

…the genus Pholcus contains over 120 species, found over all the world except Australia?

Pholcus by Slovenian Museum of Natural History

Pholcus opilionoides by Jan Moravec

General info

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Size: 5 cm

Food: insects, other spiders

Habitat: basements, room corners

Distribution: northern hemisphere

Relationship with humans: useful

Biology

Daddy-long-legs, like other spiders, are excellent hunters of small insects, such as mosquitoes. They also hunt other spiders, including their own species. There are commonly encountered in bathrooms. In corners of rooms, they build an unkempt net, in which they wait for prey, usually hanging upside down. When disturbed, this spider can shake its net so violently that it practically disappears from a potential predator's sight. It performs the shaking by shifting its weight from side to side. During the summer, females use their mandibles to carry a clutch of up to thirty grayish eggs, which they set aside only to eat. After hatching, the female guards the young for about nine days. Daddy-long-legs live for around three years.